- Competition Policy
ERT: In a changing global order, Europe must modernise its Competition Policy
30 April 2025, Brussels: The European Round Table for Industry (ERT) today published its latest expert paper “Strengthening Europe’s Competitive Edge”, outlining a bold and comprehensive agenda for modernising EU competition policy to support sustainable growth, innovation, and global competitiveness.
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With European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for a “new approach to competition policy,” ERT’s recommendations come at a critical moment. The paper highlights how the European Commission can strengthen Europe’s economic resilience and align enforcement with broader EU objectives such as sustainability, digitalisation, and security.
The paper’s recommendations address key topics including the revision of merger control policy and also proposes updates of other crucial competition policy areas from the main procedural regulation for cartels and the abuse of dominance, to the substantive rules for dominant companies.
ERT’s Membership includes the CEOs and Chairs of around 60 of Europe’s leading industrial and technological companies with operations worldwide. It is well-placed to assess and review Europe’s competitive place in the world, vis-à-vis other regions – and the potential implications of changes in Competition Policy and other policy areas.
Download the ERT publication Strengthening Europe’s Competitive Edge here.
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Note to Editors:
A full list of the membership of ERT is accessible here.
The Draghi Report was clear about competition policy’s role in making the EU more competitive on the global stage. The evolving geopolitical context only serves to underline what’s at stake. This new ERT paper is a call for more effective enforcement that upholds competition while enabling European companies to innovate, grow and lead globally.
We believe EU competition policy must be forward-thinking. Consider for example, how merger control policy can allow European companies to grow and compete at global level. The modernisation of EU Competition Policy should strike a balance between the threats to competition and the opportunity cost where Europe has the potential to lead, but it can only do that if conditions evolve to facilitate scale-up.